The University of South Florida has decided to award posthumous doctoral degrees to Bangladeshi PhD students Jamil Ahmed Limon and Nahida Sultana Brishti, who were victims of a homicide in the United States. The degrees will be conferred on May 9 during the university’s 2026 spring commencement ceremonies, which will take place from Thursday to Sunday and include 8,000 graduating students.

In honor of Limon and Brishti, each ceremony will begin with a minute of silence, and two empty chairs will be placed during the doctoral degree presentation. Among the 353 doctoral recipients this year, their names will also be included.

The two students went missing on April 16, and after eight days, Limon’s body was found near Florida’s Howard Frankland Bridge on April 24. The university was informed of their disappearance by a friend the day after they went missing.